A Long, Lonely Time
by alexcatb1975
Summary: My take on the infamous window scene.


**I will pay RAS and the Riverdale writers' drug supplier to stop selling to them so they can give me quality content, like Barchie.**

Archie let out a sigh of relief as he entered his room. He just wanted this day to end. The pain of Veronica breaking up with him fresh in his mind, suffocating him. He quickly slipped off his shirt and balled it up, catching a glance outside of his window.

There he saw his beautiful best friend and neighbor.

She was sitting in front of her white vanity table, tying her blond locks into her signature ponytail and getting ready for bed.

Archie approached his window, involuntarily drawn in by the alluring girl in the next house. He stopped and stared at her, taking in the warm glow that she radiated.

Betty sat in front of her vanity, attempting to conceal the fact that she had been crying. Jughead just didn't understand that she loved him and was willing to do anything for him. Did he really think she wanted to strip in front of 30-year-old gang members, his dad, and her mom? No. She only did it to join the Serpents and protect him. For an enlightened writer, he wasn't very bright.

Standing up from her vanity, Betty took a quick glance at the boy next door staring at her before walking away from his eyeline. She stopped in her tracks as she noticed the intensity in which Archie had looked at her with. She quickly peeked her head at him, slowly walking towards the window. His figure became more clear with the pale moonlight and the soft glow of his lamp.

Archie noticed that her usually cheerful face wore a sad expression, and that made his heart sink. He hated to see his best friend upset like this.

Betty's intensely blue eyes immediately softened as she saw Archie's charmingly boyish smile, but her face still wore a serious and hurt expression.

Archie looked her up and down. She looked truly gorgeous in her blue shorts and light pink tank top. He was not going to let whatever was on her mind ruin her beauty. He quickly retrieved his phone from his desk and messaged Betty.

Betty snapped out of her trance as her phone vibrated. She walked over to her bed and picked up the phone. A single notification appeared on the screen. A text from Archie.

_You look like you could use a friend :)_

Betty's eyes almost teared up. She had felt so distant from her best friend lately. All she wanted to do was go over there and let it all out while Archie strokes her hair and tells her that everything is going to be okay. She quickly slipped on her pink slippers and quietly slipped out of her room. She tiptoed around the dark house until she reached the door and stepped out into the chilly night.

Archie was getting anxious and worried. Minutes had passed and no reply from Betty. He kept thinking that maybe he had scared her off with all the staring and the texting. He rubbed his face and groaned, until he caught a glimpse of the blond haired girl standing in the doorway of his room.

"Betty? How did you get in her?" Archie's heart skipped a beat as he noticed how even more beautiful she looked up close.

"I used the key under the flowerpot. You guys never moved it huh? I remember using it to sneak into your house late at night when we were kids and watching movies in your room." Betty gave him a warm smile.

"So what's up?" Archie asked, trying to maintain his cool.

"You said I look like I needed a friend and it turns out that I do. Jughead broke up with me tonight." Betty's blue orbs watered as she recalled Jughead's harsh words.

"Oh wow. I'm so sorry Betty." Archie immediately closed the distance between them and took Betty into his arms. She immediately sobbed into his naked chest.

Archie stroked her back, heartbroken as he watched Betty fall apart in his arms.

He guided them towards his bed, sitting Betty down before joining and embracing her once again.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Archie spoke softly in her ear.

"Not really." Betty managed to squeeze out of her throat.

"It'll make you feel better." Archie crooned.

"Okay." Betty said hesitantly. "So I'm guessing you caught my strip show at the White Wyrm." Betty sighed as she didn't even want to recall this evening.

"Wait what? If Jughead made you strip for him in front of all those men I'll put him through a wall." Archie's voice rose, he would do anything to protect his best friend.

"No, no. Since Jughead joined the Serpents I figured I would join too, you know, to be by his side and protect him in case he got into any trouble. But girls are initiated into the gang by stripping, so I figured I wouldn't tell Jughead and just do it, but he got angry and broke up with me." Betty's voice shook as she told the story.

"If it helps, Veronica dumped me. I guess she didn't feel the same way I felt about her." Archie didn't want to make this about himself, but he needed to make sure that Betty knew that he understood what she was going through.

"It was a bad night for Betty and Archie's love lives." Betty sighed.

"Yeah." Archie gave Betty a warm smile. " But we'll be okay. I know we've been distant with each other, but you're still my best friend and I'll always look out for you."

"Thanks Arch. I can't believe we gave everything we had to them and they still break our hearts." Betty smiled through the obvious pain, looking down at the ground.

Archie put his hands on both sides of Betty's face, lifting it up so that their eyes met. "Hey no more crying okay?" He wiped away her tears with his thumbs, staring into her irritated blue eyes and puffy red face.

"Okay." Betty said, a bit speechless as she looked into Archie's familiar and safe brown puppy dog eyes.

They stared at each other. Archie knows how much Betty loves Jughead, so he couldn't find the right words to say to comfort her. Until a light bulb went off in his head.

"Hey I know something that will make you feel better." Archie stood up from his bed, making his way to the corner of his room, where an old-timey record player was. He quickly went through a crate of vinyls before finding the one he was looking for. He placed the vinyl on the record player and gently placed the needle on top of it. The soft crooning of The Righteous Brothers filled the air in Archie's room.

"Unchained Melody! I remember how much trouble we got in for watching Ghost and re-enacting the pottery scene in art class." Betty laughed, nostalgic for the days when it was just them. The boy and girl next door, no intriguing New York socialites and no troubled gang members.

"Then you probably remember how we danced to it every night in the basement because in our words we were "practicing our dance as the king and queen of our middle school homecoming dance."Archie laughed as he recalled the scrawny redhead boy and awkwardly sweet girl dancing along to the tune.

"Dance with me?" Archie extended his hand towards Betty.

"Sure." Betty could not stop the grin from growing on her face. She placed her small hand on top of Archie's larger one and stood up.

"I think I owe you a dance after what happened at homecoming."

Archie pulled her in close, hands wrapped around her waist, while Betty placed her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

They moved along to the heartfelt song. Archie took a whiff of Betty's strawberry scented hair and sighed. He hadn't felt this comfortable and at home in months. It seemed like all of their troubles disappeared.

Betty melted into Archie's arms. It seemed like everything Betty had done in her relationship with Jughead was protect him. Protect him from every reckless thing that he got himself into. It felt nice to be the one that was secure now. That's exactly what she felt in Archie's strong embrace.

The song kept playing and Betty and Archie swayed gently with each other, neither wanting to let go.

Archie pulled away slightly so that they were face to face, sky blue eyes meeting chocolate brown ones.

Archie's face flashed a mischievous grin as he suddenly spun Betty and dipped her. They both giggle before locking eyes again.

As The Righteous Brothers hit that last note, Betty and Archie found their faces inches apart. Their breath intermingled and time stopped. It was like there was nobody else in the world, just them. Their lips ghosted over each other's and their hearts beat in unison. Archie stared hungrily at Betty's full pink lips before closing the distance between them.

An explosion of fireworks and electricity went off as Betty and Archie kissed. Her lips were soft and tasted minty. It was even better than Archie could have imagined.

Their slow and gentle kiss was perfect. They didn't have to use words to express how they felt for each other, their kiss was doing a great job at that.

All of those years of romantic tension was poured into the kiss.

They moved in perfect unison, pulling each other as close as they could.

Archie pulled on the hair tie that held together her perfect locks, letting her hair cascade around her slim face.

Betty ran her hands through his red hair, never detaching herself from him.

This felt so right that Betty never wanted it to end. She deepened the kiss, standing on her tiptoes.

Archie couldn't believe this was happening. He mentally kicked himself for rejecting this amazing woman. If he knew they were gonna have such great chemistry, he would have made her his girlfriend that night they had dinner at Pop's.

Betty ran her hands through his abs before settling them on his belt buckle. This triggered Archie's alarms.

"Betty wait." Archie said before hesitantly pulling away.

Betty looked at him with pain in her eyes. She was an idiot. Of course Archie was still hung up on Veronica. It was stupid of her to think that that was going to change if she just came into his room and threw herself at him. She didn't think she had anymore tears left, but they were threatening to come out in that moment.

"Look you probably think I'm being a jerk because I've lead you on but the truth is you confuse me Betty Cooper. But now more than ever, I know that I love you. And I don't want the fact that we're both vulnerable to lead us into a rebound situation with only sympathy sex. I want more than that." Archie explained wholeheartedly, not wanting Betty to get the wrong idea.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "I get it Arch. It took us so long to get to this point that I don't want anything to ruin it. So we'll wait. You're worth it Archie Andrews." Betty smiled before giving the sweet teen a kiss on the check. "I should probably go back home."

"Or you could sleepover." Archie suggested. Now that he had the girl next door, he never wanted to let her go.

"I'd like that." Betty smiled.

Archie grinned before getting into bed, scooting over so that Betty would have a place to lay. Betty rolled her eyes, smiling before getting into the bed and pulling the covers over both of them.

Betty laid on her back facing the ceiling, while Archie laid facing her with his arm wrapped around her. They laid in comfortable silence.

Even though Betty was beyond happy, there was one thought that still plagued her mind.

"Arch can I ask you a question?" She turned to look at the redhead that had his eyes closed.

"Anything." Archie immediately opened his eyes and smiled.

"Am I always going to be your second choice? I mean you break up with Veronica then suddenly you're looking at me like I'm the only girl in the world. Archie I really like you, but I can't keep waiting until you're done with Veronica or Ms. Grundy or any other women for you to come around." Betty said quietly, sadness filling her eyes.

"Betty, you have no idea how much I despise myself right now. I'm so sorry if I made you feel this way. The truth is it's always been you. The thrill of a mysterious new girl or an older woman will never compare to what we have. Passion fades but our history will never." Archie smiled sweetly, holding the girl tighter to fully emphasize his declarations of love.

"I love you Arch." Betty turned on her side to face him and snuggle against his warm bare chest.

"I could ask you the same question Ms. Cooper. I mean you did come looking for me right after breaking up with Jughead." Archie playfully pointed out, but on some level he was actually concerned.

"You know you've always been my number one Arch." Betty looked up staring into his eyes. She wanted to make sure that he really knew that.

"Veronica and Jughead are gonna be so mad. I mean they've always felt insecure when they were dating us. I don't think I want to mess up the friendship that we have but I also don't want to let you go." Betty said, deep in thought.

"They'll understand Betty. I think the reason they were always concerned about our friendship is because on some level they knew we were meant to be together. Can you blame them? You always undress me with your eyes when the four of us hang out." Archie tried to lighten up the mood. He wasn't going to let anything ruin their newfound happiness.

Betty playful smacked his arm. "You wish. I was only looking at you because you were always looking so longing at me." She laughed, feeling better than she had felt all day.

"The perfect boy and girl next door. It was bound to happen." Archie spoke.

"I think I like that word when it describes the both of us. Together."

"I like it too."

With one last peck on the lips, they drifted off in each other's arms.

The soft music continued playing while they slept, happily to have found each other.

Archie because he had finally found the girl that truly loved him, who had not felt pressured to say it just because he had.

And Betty, because she had found the boy who would protect her and appreciate the little things that she did for him.

**I promise I'm not a tease I just don't know how to write smut :)**

**A few reminders:**

**1.) Go check out my Rachel/Gar Titans fanfics.**

**2.) Let me know if you have any story ideas.**

**3.) Leave some feedback. I like it.**

**4.) Drink water. :)**

**Song recommendation: Affection by BETWEEN FRIENDS**


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